Aside from when, exactly, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be ready to return to action from shoulder surgery, there isn’t a whole of intrigue to contemplate going into 2013 edition of training camp for the Edmonton Oilers, is there?

Really, aside from the exact date RNH is ready to roll, be it in the pre-season or once the Oilers start playing for points, Edmonton's roster looks pretty set from where I sit, give or take a few spots on the line-up card of new coach Dallas Eakins.

For me, the questions aren't so much about who the pieces will be on the 2013-14 edition of the Oilers, but how Eakins will put those pieces together in the form of forward lines, defense pairings and special teams.

We'll see about that through the pre-season schedule, of course, but as far as the roster goes, I think I can pretty much pick it right now – and so can you. Please tell me if I'm wrong. I'm sure you will.

The last two spots will be contested by Ben Eager, Will Acton, who has a bit of an inside track because he's familiar to Eakins and associate coach Keith Acton, his father, Anton Lander and Jesse Joensuu. There's another spot there to start the season, of course, if RNH isn’t ready to go.

If Eakins goes with eight defensemen, I expect the first six – stop the presses – to be Andrew Ference, Ladislav Smid, Justin Schultz, Jeff Petry, Nick Schultz and reclamation project Denis Grebeshkov. Oscar Klefbom, given his SEL experience, is the best bet to grab the seventh spot and could push for a spot in the third pairing, platooning with Grebeshkov.

Beyond Klefbom, I think it's a stretch to expect Anton Belov, who'll miss the start of camp because of visa problems, or Taylor Fedun to push for a roster spot for opening night Oct. 1. Corey Potter is the most likely insurance policy, and the most experienced, outside the top six.

Goal? There is nobody in camp capable of pushing Devan Dubnyk and Jason LaBarbera for the starting and cheerleading (aside from 15-17 games) spots.

FROM THE INSIDE (OR NOT)

For what it's worth, the Oilers website staff has the following depth chart posted (with a caveat at the top the chart is unofficial) as of right now. By position and in order, it reads as follows:

A FEW QUESTIONS

1. On what date will Eakins expose Wanye to untold ridicule for his story that Gagner will be named the next captain by announcing that Ference will wear the C this season?

2. Will Yakupov begin this season on the same torrid pace he ended his rookie campaign? More important, which team will be the first to piss and moan about one of this 25 goal celebrations this season?

3. How many minutes into his first game will Grebeshkov have a monumental brain fart in his own end that has fans recalling the reasons the Oilers bid farewell to him in the first place?

4. Ken Hitchcock had his hands full with the talented Perron in St. Louis in terms of getting him to play within the system he wanted. If Hitch couldn’t do it, what makes Eakins think he can?

5. Will Hemsky script an epic SIUTBOHC in a third-line role to start the season or will reporters be scribbling "Hemsky Wants Out" pieces six weeks into the season? Both?

6. How many points for Justin Schultz this season? And, after running out of gas during his rookie campaign, can he play the point on both power play units this season?

7. Playoffs this season? After last season's spasm of optimism, mark me down for a definite "no."

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With RNH out for at least a month and reading the contract negotiation of Kadri, I wonder if the Oilers should offer sheet Kadri.

I believe Kadri would be an adequate top 6 centre and worth gamble the 1st and 3rd round pick. 7.5M 2 year would put a lot of pressure on the Leafs. At the moment we have 24 players and 1.35M cap space left. We should be able to save at least 2M cap space from cutting 2 players and RNH LTIR will save a little more cap space to make up the 3.75M.

The immediate benefit is this addresses our need in centre when RNH is out. It will also add depth to our weak centre position. We will have 3 very good scoring line when RNH returns.

And we have more option moving forward with 3 top 6 centres. If we choose to trade any one of them away, I believe the return will be more than the 1st and 3rd round pick we give up for him.

This is just a guess nothing more. I bet his immigration delay is fixed by main camp. Perhaps something to do with not wanting to go through rookie camp. Again 100% conjecture.

Could be. I just find it baffling that in the modern international sports business, and given a lead time of approximately two and half months, that this wasn't sorted out earlier.

And if you don't want to go through rookie camp, just say so. Don't screw around with immigration papers on the grounds that you don't want to bag-skate with the newbies. That kind of prioritization is on par with putting your shoes on before your pants in the morning.

Uh guys...we have pretty much ZERO cap space left. The only offer sheets we'll be sending out will be to Flames washroom attendants (I hear they're the best in the league).

Not sure how you arrive at that conclusion. According to capgeek, we have 24 players signed and 1,348,333 in cap space.

If RNH can't start on Oct 1, it will give us over 5M cap space when the season starts.

Assuming RNH will start Oct 1, we still have to cut one player which will at least free up at least 775,000 (Potter who is the second cheapest) cause I don't think we will cut Brown (736,667) so we have about 2M.

If we offer sheet a player, we have to cut another player. The next cheapest will be Lander at 900K. So we will have at least 2.9M for offer sheet if we want to.

And if we can trade N. Schultz, we will free up 3.5M and have tons of cap space to work with.

Office space, and the jump to conclusions mat. I've been working and living overseas offshore for ten years now. There's always someone on a hitch that suffers visa, immigration, work permit issues and that's with the company doing all the leg work. It happens.

Haven't had a season with this many variables and wild cards for as long as I can remember. With so many unknown factors playing a role, it's easy to lean on either end of the spectrum of optimism and pesimism when in all probability, like every thing else, the season will probably fall some where in the middle.
Optimistic view: Oilers grab that eight spot.
Pessimistic view: They go back to the lottery.
My middle ground is an improvement on last year with important and meaningful games played right to the end of the year.

Sensible assessment at this point in the season, as there are too many variables i.e. new coach, probable injuries, player additions and etc to get a good grip on the full season. Any group of players can win if they are committed and work together as a TEAM, and there's many examples going way back. Its not only talent that wins... I'm guessing your new coach will be able to instil that in your young players. As a Flames fan, I would agree Oilers trending upwards and hopefully will continue with a strong season and push for a playoff spot right to the end. Believe a strong Oilers will add incentive for Calgary to keep pace so here's cheering for you guys!

What I can't figure out is how Oilers were looking so good last year at the trade deadline, then went on that 10 game losing streak. Hopefully the team/leaders have learned something in the process, or new ones have arrived to instil a different mindset for the future. Flames have similar issues, i.e. dealing with a little success without a let-down and hopefully each can learn to grow through it to be able to stay on an even keel and work through the issues. I would guess the addition of your new 2-3 vets will help considerably in that regard.

All the best on the season, let's see what you've got come Saturday...